The British Cabinet Office Minister, Dr Mo Mowlam, was facing growing criticism yesterday after calling for the royal family to be moved out of Buckingham Palace and rehoused in a modern building.
Downing Street moved to distance itself from the remarks made in a magazine article, in which Dr Mowlam suggested that old palaces could be used as public museums and galleries. A spokesman for Mr Tony Blair said: "The Prime Minister is an ardent supporter of the monarchy. He values his relationship with the queen and he feels the royal family plays a central role in our national life.
"The queen lives in Buckingham Palace, and I don't think she's intending to move, and the Prime Minister doesn't think she should."
The remarks risk involving the government in a controversy about the royal family just as it was getting over setbacks caused by attacks on elitism in education and Mr Blair's slow-handclap reception from the Women's Institute.
Dr Mowlam insisted yesterday that she had simply been responding to questions asked by Saga magazine about similar comments she made six years ago.
"I don't feel that strongly about it," she told BBC radio. "It is a personal view and not a government view. I just put my personal views on the record six years ago."
Opposition politicians and royal supporters, however, accused the former Northern Ireland secretary of hypocrisy and a lack of judgment. The Tory spokesman, Mr Andrew Lansley, said: "This is typical from a government who get their priorities and their judgment wrong. After the Dome comes the plan to move the queen into a people's palace."